Sustainability & efficiency

Genetic correlations between residual feed intake and growth in Hereford beef cattle

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Abstract

Residual Feed Intake (RFI) is a key trait for improving feed efficiency in beef cattle, as it enables reduction on feed intake without compromising performance traits. An EPD for RFI is currently available thanks to the development of training populations, which allows predicting RFI for a large number of animals that cannot be directly measured. Previous studies have demonstrated good predictive ability of genomic evaluations for RFI. Knowledge of the correlations between RFI and other key production traits is essential from both breeding and management perspectives. Therefore, the objective of this study was to estimate the genetic correlations between Dry Matter Intake (DMI), RFI with weaning weight (WW) and 18-month weight (18m). A multivariate analysis was performed to estimate heritability and genetic correlations including the four traits (DMI, WW, 18m, RFI). Fixed effects included contemporary group at each weight, age of the animal as a linear covariate for all traits, and age of dam for DMI, RFI and WW. Variance components were estimated by Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) using Blupf90+ (Misztal et al., 2002). The final dataset included 1,801 observations for animals that have all phenotypic records for DMI, WW and RFI available, and 1,560 with 18m phenotypes. Pedigree information extended up to three generations, covering a total of 8,269 animals. Results confirmed that DMI (0.43 ± 0.07) and RFI (0.20 ± 0.06) have high to medium heritability respectively. A high genetic correlation was found between DMI and WW (0.84 ± 0.58) and 18m (0.87 ± 0.14), indicating that selecting animals with lower feed intake would likely reduce growth performance. In contrast, selecting animals with low RFI (more efficient animals) would not negatively impact performance, as shown by the absence of genetic correlation with WW (-0.03 ± 0.42) or 18m (-0.03 ± 0.27). The standard errors of the genetic correlations were high, especially those including WW, suggesting that additional data would be favorable for obtaining more accurate estimates. These results highlight the suitability of RFI as a selection criterion for identifying more feed-efficient animals, those that consume less feed-without resulting in undesirable consequences on weight-related performance traits.

Keywords: 2026

How to Cite:

Aguilar, I., Navajas, E., Pravia, M. & Ravagnolo, O., (2026) “Genetic correlations between residual feed intake and growth in Hereford beef cattle”, World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production Digital Archive 2026(1): 2286536. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/wcgalp.24041

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